Smallpox News and Research

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Smallpox is a highly contagious disease caused by the variola virus, a member of the Orthopox virus family. It is one of the most devastating diseases known to humanity, with a mortality rate as high as 30%. In 1967, the World Health Organization embarked upon an intensified vaccination campaign to eliminate smallpox, which culminated in the successful eradication of the disease globally by 1980.

By the mid-1980s, there were only two known repositories of variola virus: the Institute of Virus Preparations in Russia, and the US CDC. The events in the US in September and October 2001 highlighted the risk that the variola virus might be used as an agent of bioterrorism. Governments around the world are taking precautionary measures to be ready to deal with a potential smallpox outbreak.

Measles outbreaks may reveal more than gaps in vaccination

A commentary in Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics argues that measles outbreaks can serve as a sensitive indicator of weaknesses in vaccination coverage, surveillance, health equity, community trust, and broader immunization systems. The authors contend that pursuing measles eradication could also strengthen routine immunization, laboratory capacity, outbreak preparedness, and health-system resilience.

21 Sep 2026

Weakened form of Mpox drove the 2022 global outbreak

The strain of Mpox behind the 2022 outbreak was a weakened form of the virus, which may have helped to spread it faster, a new study from the University of Surrey reports.

9 Sep 2026

Independent review reinforces value of vaccines across all ages

The Gerontological Society of America (GSA) supports the 2026-27 respiratory season vaccine evidence review released on September 2, 2026, by the Vaccine Integrity Project (VIP) in collaboration with the American Medical Association.

4 Sep 2026

Ancient parchment reveals historical evolution of destructive sheeppox virus

Some of Europe's most well-known historic manuscripts, including the York Gospels, have proven to be biological time capsules for uncovering the 3,500-year history of the sheeppox virus (SPPV).

4 Sep 2026

African Bundibugyo ebolavirus vaccine candidate to be advanced to clinical trials

Leading African biopharmaceutical company Minapharm Group, headquartered in Egypt with subsidiaries in Berlin, will receive up to US$16.5 million from the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) to advance the development of a Bundibugyo ebolavirus vaccine candidate, strengthening efforts to develop vaccines to combat the fastest-growing and second-largest Ebola outbreak on record affecting the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).

28 Aug 2026

Scientists urge advocacy to protect vital global vaccine research

Scientists and physicians should advocate to protect the vaccine research infrastructure that has saved an estimated 154 million lives over the past 50 years, according to a new commentary by researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine and the University of Washington.

22 May 2026

New tools for quicker and easier Mpox diagnosis

Following the rise in monkeypox (Mpox) cases, particularly in countries where the disease had not traditionally been observed, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern in June 2022 and again in August 2024.

4 May 2026

Study reveals poxvirus's unique DNA clamp for gene activation

A research team at the University of Würzburg has deciphered another aspect of poxviral gene activation.

18 Feb 2026

Study reveals evidence of silent mpox exposure in healthy Nigerians

New evidence suggests that mpox may be circulating quietly among healthy Nigerians, with some infections occurring without the symptoms that typically trigger detection by health authorities.

5 Feb 2026

The challenge of tracking asymptomatic Mpox

The mpox virus appears to be circulating silently in parts of Nigeria, in many cases without the symptoms typically associated with the disease, according to new research led by scientists from the University of Cambridge and partners in Nigeria. The findings may have implications for controlling the spread of the disease.

20 Jan 2026

Mpox clade Ib transmitted in a healthcare setting outside Africa

Mpox is a viral disease usually transmitted from animals to humans and symptoms include fever and skin rashes. In 2023, a new variant of monkeypox virus (MPXV), called clade Ib, emerged in Kamituga in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

19 Dec 2025

AI helps researchers to find a new way to fight the monkeypox virus

With the help of artificial intelligence, an international team of researchers has made the first major inroad to date towards a new and more effective way to fight the monkeypox virus (MPXV), which causes a painful and sometimes deadly disease that can be especially dangerous for children, pregnant women and immunocompromised people.

10 Dec 2025

Study explains why mpox cases can appear weeks after exposure

Mpox virus clade Ib shows a longer and more variable incubation period than previously characterized clades, with symptom onset extending well beyond 21 days in a substantial minority of cases. Incubation varies by transmission route, with shorter intervals after sexual exposure and longer periods following nonsexual community transmission, raising implications for surveillance and postexposure guidance.

9 Dec 2025

New analysis reveals fundamental flaws in widely used measures of biological aging

A landmark review published today in Genomic Psychiatry challenges researchers to fundamentally reconsider how the field measures and conceptualizes biological aging.

3 Dec 2025

Doctors muffled as Florida moves to end decades of childhood vaccination mandates

Florida plans to end nearly a half-century of required childhood immunizations against diseases that have killed and maimed millions of children. Many critics of the decision, including doctors, are afraid to speak up against it.

27 Oct 2025

Report maps vaccination's comprehensive benefits for health and economy

A new Gerontological Society of America report, "Concentric Value of Vaccination: Intersecting Health, Economic, and Societal Benefits," provides evidence on the advantages of immunization for individual and population health, economic outcomes, and societal well-being.

22 Oct 2025

Multilateral collaboration remains key amid funding shifts in global health

As the US withdraws from the World Health Organization and cuts overseas aid, regional partnerships are critical to safeguarding the health of member countries in a region where climate change and chronic diseases loom large.

10 Oct 2025

PAHO introduces new tool to accelerate disease elimination in the Americas

During a briefing session at the 62nd Directing Council of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), officials presented a new technical tool to help countries in the Region of the Americas accelerate the elimination of more than 30 communicable diseases and related conditions.

6 Oct 2025

$Kennedy’s take on vaccine science fractures cohesive national public health strategies$

Kennedy’s take on vaccine science fractures cohesive national public health strategies

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has had a busy few months. He fired the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, purged the agency's vaccine advisory committee, and included among the group's new members appointees who espouse anti-vaccine views.

19 Sep 2025

Novel monoclonal antibodies show promise in preventing severe mpox disease

A team from the Microbiology Department at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has discovered three powerful monoclonal antibodies from a person who had previously been infected with mpox (formerly known as monkeypox).

26 Aug 2025